A Lost Sibling
by HolyTardisCordyceps
Summary: As Joel and Ellie head down to Jackson, Ellie reveals a dark secret she promised to herself she would never speak of again... She had a brother. How will knowledge of this secret affect Joel and Ellie's life in Jackson? And when a familiar face shows up, how will it affect Ellie's life? Rated M for heavy language and dark themes and some disturbing content.
1. 1: Arrival

**Hey! Before I talk about the story I want to say a little about myself. I'm an aspiring writer with some skills towards music. I'm not the best writer out there, and this story may have a few errors because this is my first story. Please be sure to leave a review, positive or negative, they help. This story will be updated every three to five days, but don't be surprised if it takes six, because I have a busy schedule.**

**About the story, I've had this idea for a really long time and I wanted to write it down into a story. I hope the idea was a good one, and that you enjoy it. It's got lots of dark elements, and some disturbing stuff, so I recommend it for people 15 and older. Thanks!**

**I do not own naughty dog's The Last of Us or any characters in it, except for the ones I introduce.**

* * *

A brief silence fell. "Okay." It was all Ellie seemed to think to say. She knew Joel was lying, but she was happy to be close to a place to call home, and figured she could discuss it with Joel at another time.

As Joel and Ellie walked down towards Jackson, Joel felt like he needed to ask a question. "So you didn't know your parents... But did you have any uncles, aunts, or siblings? Anyone?" Ellie went pale and tears formed in the corners of her eyes. "I really don't like talking about it... But I had a brother." Joel stopped and turned back towards Ellie in confusion. Why hasn't she told me this? "What? You've never even said a word about having a brother... Why now?" Ellie looked down at her feet as tears streamed down her cheeks. "I'm sorry, it's just really hard for me to talk about." Joel looked at her empathetically. "Try to get the weight off your chest. You'll feel a lot better in the long run." Ellie nodded and continued. "He always tried to protect me... He was around before I met Riley... I was out at the same place I was bitten, long before it happened. One of those big fucking infected guys, whatever they're called again came out of nowhere, and attacked us. He hacked it in the leg with his tomahawk, and told me to run as fast as I could." Ellie paused, sobbing. Joel walked to her and kneeled down, holding her in a hug. "The... Bloater hit him backhand in the head, and clawed at his face... I ran so fast... I haven't seen him since. He's probably dead."

Joel stood up. "It's okay. Everyone has gone through similar things. If he didn't do that, neither of you would be alive." Ellie nodded in agreement. "His name was Grayson. Shit. I miss him so much." Ellie looked at Joel with a suddenly hopeful face. "Maybe he could be at Jackson..." Ellie looked back down with a dark face. "Nah. I'm just rambling." Joel subconsciously agreed. "We need to get to Jackson. There, we'll be safe. We'll have a home, food, and friends and family around us. Come on." Ellie stood up, wiping the tears from her face.

* * *

Joel and Ellie made it to the gate. Tommy was on the wall keeping watch, and noticed them. "Joel!?" Joel and Ellie looked up to him as the said in unison, "It's been a hell of a ride." Joel and Ellie looked to each other, confused. Tommy then came down, hugging Joel. "Welcome back!" Tommy stepped back, took out a walkie-talkie and spoke into it. "It's Joel and Ellie, open the gate." He puts the walkie away and looks to Ellie and ruffles her hair. "Don't think I've forgotten about you." The three walked into the town. "We've done a lot since you left. We've built houses, restored the park, we've even set up running water." Ellie looked to Tommy.

"Are you fucking kidding me!?" Tommy looked back to the girl. "I'm dead serious." He then faces Joel. "It took a very long time, but it's set up! We've even built a sniper tower." Joel looked around the town with amazement. "How... You've got touch Tommy. You've done a good thing here." Tommy stopped at a house in very poor condition and pulled a small drawstring bag out of his pocket. He walked up to the door and slipped the bag in through the mail slot in the door. He stepped down back to the two. "Let me show you to your house."

The two walk to a house in good condition. The three approach the door, as Tommy hands Joel a key. Joel hugs Tommy as Ellie sprints into the house and bellyflops onto the couch, letting out a satisfied sigh. Joel closes and locks the door and sits next to Ellie. "I guess you like it here." Joel simply says. "I'm hungry." Ellie gets up and loads her pistol. "What the hell would you need that thing for if you're hungry?" Joel stands up, setting his bag on the floor. "To go hunting. I don't have any arrows-" Joel cuts her off. "We have food in there." He points to the kitchen. "Oh... This is going to be hard to get used to." Ellie walks to the kitchen and takes an apple from a bowl of fruit on the counter. Joel sinks back into the couch and tries to take a nap. Ellie finishes her apple and joins him.

* * *

A loud knock sounds from the door. Ellie leaps off the couch, half asleep and trips over Joel's bag. "Don't worry, I'll get it." Joel gets up and opens the door. A boy at around five feet and six inches and hooded stands there, and hands Joel an envelope. He gives a quick lazy salute and walks off. Joel sits back down on the couch with a now fully awake Ellie and opens the envelope. "Enlistment notice... Must be for the guard." Ellie scoots closer and reads the paper. "Can I join?" Joel looks and her and giggles. "I don't think that you'll be allowed to. I know you can handle yourself, but this town has... Laws, almost." Joel looks back at the paper. "I'll handle this tomorrow, but it's late. We should go to bed.

The two walk up the stairs. Joel turns to the door to the right, and Ellie instinctively follows. Joel turns to face her. "You've got your own room, remember?" Ellie looks down at her feet. "Oh yeah." Joel kisses her on the head. "Good night." Joel enters his room and lays on the bed. "Five minutes." He says to himself. Five minutes. Five minutes til' Ellie will come in here and sleep with me. In under three minutes Ellie walks in and lays on the bed. Joel chuckles and faces her. "I know. It'll take some time to get used to sleeping in your own bed, in your own room." Ellie simply snuggles up to him, something unusual. "Goodnight."

* * *

Joel wakes up the next morning much later than usual. Ellie still lies snuggled up to him, stirring in her sleep. Joel wraps his arms around her. He used to do this when Sarah was little. He could tell when she was having a nightmare. She would stir in her sleep, often she would mumble in her sleep as well. He would hold her in his arms, trying to comfort her.

Then Ellie wakes up, a little shocked. "Jesus." She simply said. "You alright?" Joel sat her up. "Yeah." Her voice trembled. "Just a bad dream." Joel didn't know what to say. "It's okay. You're fine, it's just a dream. It can't hurt you." Joel sat up. "I wanted to tell you yesterday but you seemed really tired, asleep on the couch. But now is a good time. We have a shower." Ellie's face lit up. "Really?! Joel, why didn't you tell me yesterday?!" She jumped up out of bed. "Where is it!?" Joel gets up and groggily says, "I'll show you." He walks to his bedroom door, and opens it, walks into the hallway, then into a door. "Here. Take off your clothes, get in the shower, pull the handle up for water, left for cold, right for hot. Be sure to scrub out your hair. You need to." Ellie shoves him out of the bathroom. About a minute later, Joel hears the shower. He walks downstairs to handle the letter he got yesterday. In about an hour Ellie comes down the stairs, shivering.

"What took you so long?" Joel asked. "I would've stayed in there longer, but the water got fucking freezing." Joel chuckles and looks down at the paper. "Yeah, when you're in there too long the water gets cold." Joel looks back up at her. "I need to go meet Tommy later today at lunch. I'll be gone for about two hours. You can come to lunch if you'd like, but afterwards I'm going to the guardhouse. I'm supposed to join it, for whatever reason." Ellie nods. "Nah, I'll stay here, you can have lunch with your brother." Joel stands up. "Alright." He gets his backpack on, and walks over to her. "Are you alright?" Ellie looks down at her feet again. "I'm just thinking about what we were talking about when we were going down the hill to here." Joel puts a hand on her shoulder. "I'm sorry. I've lost people too. It's had to watch people you love pass away, while you linger on." Joel hugs her. "I'll be back later." Joel then walks to the door, and leaves.

* * *

Ellie sits down on the couch and fiddles with her italian stiletto. She gets up and paces around the house, and finds the house key on the counter. She remembers that suspicious house that Tommy stopped by. Overtaken by curiosity, she leaves the house, locks the door, and finds the house. She knocks on the door, and hides in the bushes next to the door. No answer. She gets up and sees if the door is locked. "Dammit." She steps back and looks for another way in. She notices a window open next to a tree. She climbs the tree, and climbs through the window. She looks around the room, unable to tell for what purpose this room is used for. She sees a mattress on the ground with a sheet laid over it, so it must be a bedroom.

She looks on a shelf next to the bed. The shelf is littered with blue bottles filled with little white pills. The labels on the bottles are soiled, and most of the bottles are empty. She exits the bedroom, and walks down the stairs. The first floor looks perfectly ordinary, except for the fact that it is filthy. She goes to the basement and finds a table with various gun parts on it, and loose ammunition of various calibers scattered on the table. On the table as well is what looks like a gun in mid construction. A small book sits on the table as well. against the walls are lots of locked gun safes. One of the safes is empty and unlocked, and a few coins sit on the floor of the empty safe. It looks like the room is still frequented and is in very good condition, unlike the rest of the house.

The book on the table grabs her interest, however. The book is open to a page with what appears to be various components to the unfinished weapon on the table. She flips through the book, finding uninteresting things written down on it. Then she stops at a page with a picture taped to it. It was a picture of Grayson and Ellie sitting in a tree. "What the fuck?!" Then, the sound of the front door slamming shut rings throughout the house. She jumps into the unlocked, empty gun safe, and hopes not to be found.

* * *

**Sorry for this chapter being so short. The other ones will not be as so. Please leave a review, positive or negative it helps me out.**


	2. 2: A Warm Welcome

Hey!** I just wanted to apologize about the short chapter, and I promise that chapters won't usually be that short. Again, I recommend this story for people age 15 and older for heavy language, dark elements, and some disturbing content. Please be sure to leave a review. Positive or negative they are helpful. **

**I do not own anything from The Last of Us nor any of it's characters, except the ones I introduce. All credit goes to naughty dog otherwise.**

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Ellie peered through the little window bars in the safe. Heavy footsteps came down the stairs, and a man around a decade older than Joel approached the table, placing a piece of paper on it. The man walked back up the stairs, and left the house. Ellie sighed with relief. "Christ, I thought I was fucked." She stepped out of the locker and looked at the note the man left at the table. "8 compact rifles with extra ammunition for all 8 rifles and 12 8mm Pistols..." Ellie read the note with confusion. "This must be an armsman's house..." Ellie thought. Ellie runs up the stairs and climbs back out the window, down the tree and sprints back to her house.

Ellie swings open the door to see Joel sitting on the couch, face in his hands. "Where the fuck have you been?" He shouted. "I'm sorry, I was... Going on a walk. Yeah. Sorry." Ellie runs over to Joel. "You've been gone for two goddamn hours. You weren't going on a walk. What were you doing?" Joel retorted. Ellie froze, trying to think of something to say. "I'm sorry, I just went to see Maria, talk to her." Joel sits back down on the couch. "Okay. Just next time let me know before you run off like that. You had me really scared." Joel quietly replied. Ellie simply nodded and apologized again. "Anyways, Tommy told me that they've got a diner opened up for breakfast and lunch. How 'bout we go tomorrow?" Joel asked, getting off the couch. Ellie simply nodded and said. "Yeah, that'd be great." Ellie paused. "You know that you're a really shitty cook, right?" Joel chuckled. "Yea. I have to eat what I cook too." Ellie ran up the stairs and into Joel's room, takes off her backpack, and lays on the bed, thinking about the picture she saw at that house.

In about half an hour, Joel walks into the room, takes off his backpack, and lays on the bed. "Ellie, did I ever tell you that you were the cutes, sassiest three year old I've ever seen?" Ellie looked at him with confusion. "How many bottles of beer have you had?" Joel laughed. "None... Well, one, but that isn't the point." Joel looks at Ellie, waiting for a response. "Why do you say that? Did you see me when I was little?" Ellie asked, super confused. "Once. I was delivering some goods to Marlene, well, before we were enemies. And well, you were there." Joel told the story.

_"Well, I'm sorry, but that's all the rubbing alcohol that I could spare. I'll have more next week." Said Joel. Just then, little Ellie walked in, giggling. "Who's this?" Joel asked. "That's Ellie." Marlene gestured to her. "Cutest little thing." Joel kneeled down and ruffled her auburn hair. "Hey there."_

"Did you ever see Grayson?" Ellie looks up a Joel. "No, fraid not." Joel closes his eyes. "How come you never told me this?" Asked Ellie. "I don't know. This I guess just fell last on the priority list of things you needed to hear." Joel and Ellie fell silent, then they fell asleep.

* * *

Joel tried to shake Ellie awake. "Ellie, get up. It's time to go to the diner." Upon hearing those words, Ellie leaps out of bed, puts on her backpack and sprints to the front door. "Woah, wait up!" Joel quickly followed behind her. Joel had never seen anyone with this much energy before, straight after getting out of bed. Sure, he's seen some pretty energetic people, but he's never seen anyone prepped and ready for the day upon waking up. Joel meets Ellie at the front door. "Lead the way!" Said Ellie, loaded with excitement. Joel opens the door, and showed Ellie to the diner.

As they enter the diner, an amazing smell smacks them in the face. At one of the tables was Tommy and Maria. Three boys sat at a booth in the back corner, a girl and her apparent father sat at a booth just to the left of the door, and a boy, looking around 15 in a gray hoodie, hooded, sat at a booth, fiddling with a switchblade. Tommy and Maria welcomes them. "Good morning! Come sit!" Joel and Ellie sat in the two empty seats next to them. "

You're in for a good meal this morning." Tommy looks into the kitchen through the windows on the doors to it. "They're cooking pancakes, bacon, and sausages." Tommy laughs with joy. "What's bacon, sausage, and pancakes?" Ellie leans over to Joel. Joel sits back in his seat laughing. "Oh you poor, deprived little girl. Pancakes are the best, fluffy, cakes of flour you'll ever taste. Sausages are small links of spiced pork, pan fried. And bacon..." Joel shivers with excitement. "Bacon is the most delicious, succulent pieces of pig meat and fat you'll ever taste." Ellie sits back in her seat. "Really? Somehow I doubt that. Whenever you cooked canned sausages they tasted like worm shit." Ellie chuckles at her statement. "You're right." Joel surprises himself by saying that his cooking skills were awful. Just a few minutes later, food comes to the table. Ellie carefully inspects all the food on her plate, and takes a bite of sausage. "Oh, holy shit! I didn't know food could taste this good!"

Ellie wolfs down the sausages, and then inspects the bacon. "This is... Bacon, right?" Ellie looks up at Joel. "Yeah, that's bacon. Eat it. Right now." Joel grinned, excitedly waiting to see her reaction to the food. Ellie takes a small bite of the bacon and freezes. "Ugh... This stuff... I can't describe it's deliciousness..." Ellie quickly eats the strips of bacon and moves to the pancakes.

As she eats and the others are talking she notices that the boy in the white hoodie is watching her, and apparently has been for the whole meal. She gently elbows Tommy, trying to get his attention. "Who's that?" She said, looking at the boy. Tommy looked back down at his plate. "When he watches you, ignore it. He does it sometimes to people. He's the captain of the watch. He's always holed up in the sniper tower. He's got an M39 EMR up there, shoots down any bogies at light speed. It's amazing. But... He's not a very safe person to be around. He came up to Jackson, saying he'd make guns for us, and protect our town, and all he asked in return was food, water, and a place to call home. Then he went on, saying weird things about a family being here that he'd been separated from, years before, that he had promised to protect. Just, try to avoid him. Cause trouble and he'll sniff ya out. Last guys who did something really bad... They molested two teenage girls... He trapped them in his basement and sawed their heads off." Ellie rubbed her neck, feeling a saw rubbing back and forth on it. Tommy continued. "He's not given us a name... But the people who live here call him the executioner." Ellie finishes her food and looks up to Joel. "I'm ready to go." Joel nodded. "Hey, we'd best get back home. We've got lots of stuff we need to discuss."

Then, a girl, just a bit shorter than Ellie, and with long, loose blond hair. She walks over to Ellie. "Hey! Ellie, right?" Ellie looks down at her plate. Unsure of whether she should make friends, after losing so many people she loved, she doesn't want to lose any more. "Yeah." She simply says, looking up at the girl. The girl shakes Ellie's hand. "Rebeccah." Ellie smiles. "Nice to meet ya." Rebeccah smiles, then looks to Joel. "Hey, can me and her talk outside, so we don't have to put up with all the noise in here?" Rebeccah leans on the table. Ellie looks at Joel, waiting for some response. Joel simply shrugs. "Fine by me. Just don't run off anywhere." Rebeccah walked outside, as Ellie follows.

* * *

"Hey. Sorry about barging into your whole nice breakfast and all." Rebeccah looks up at Ellie, as she sits on the ground, back against the Diner. "It's fine, don't sweat it." Ellie sits down next to Rebeccah. "Well hey. I've been wanting to talk to you since you got here. I just... I don't know." Rebeccah felt the conversation turn awkward. "So, how did you get here?" Rebeccah looks up at Ellie with a smile. "Well, it's kind of a long story..." Ellie rubs the back of her neck. "One I don't like talking about." Joel comes out of the diner. "Ellie, sorry, but we need to go." Ellie stands up and looks down to Rebeccah. "We can talk another time." Rebeccah simply nods in response.

* * *

Joel and Ellie walk into their house, set their backpacks on the ground and it on the couch. "You weren't talking to Maria yesterday. What were you doing?" Joel looks to Ellie, satisfied that he caught her. Ellie looks to the ground and frowns. "Nothing!" Joel scoots closer. "Sorry, you're going to talk about it." Ellie leans back in the couch. "I was sneaking around an apparent armsman's house." Ellie leans over and cups her face in her hands. "Ellie, what the fuck were you inside an armsman's house for?" Joel scoots closer to Ellie. She looks up at Joel. "I'm sorry! That house just seemed suspicious. I couldn't help it." Ellie faced Joel defensively. "There is a crazy man living in that house. Stay away from it. Got it?" Joel wraps his arm around Ellie. "I ain't mad at you, I just don't want you to get hurt." Ellie pulls her legs up on the couch. "Sorry, won't happen again." Ellie gets up and heads upstairs. "I'm pooped. You know how keeping watch every night makes you tired. I'm taking a nap." Joel gets up. "I think I'll be joining you in a bit. I got an hour shift at the tower, Johnson's gotta go to the plant for a while, and I gotta take watch while 'es gone." Ellie nods, yawning at the same time.

* * *

Joel arrives at the tower, sets his rifle in his lap, and starts reading his book that he left there at yesterday's watch. He was such a sharpshot, he got his own little sniping nook, just under the Executioner's sniping tower. Every now and then, a stray runner or clicker will fall prey to that rifle. It was a beauty watching them fall dead. Not a single infected could even get in sight of the town without it's head getting blown to pieces. Tommy runs into Joel's sniping platform. "Joel, we've been having a... Bandit, problem. We think we know where their fort is." He steps closer to Joel. "But it's heavily guarded, and we would need a lot of people to shoo 'em off and take their fort." Joel stands up. "What?" Tommy fingers his beard. "I'm trying to say that it's a large danger to the town and that we've got to deal with it at some point. We've got the arm's dealer making weapons, refilling empty empty shell casings with bullets, and making a variety of weapons that we'd need." Tommy heads back down. "All I needed to tell ya."

* * *

Joel walks back into the house, and into his room. He sets his backpack on the ground and lays in bed next to Ellie, and closes his eyes.

An hour later, Ellie's scream wakes Joel up. Her chest was puffing up and down as she panted, and beads of sweat rolled down her forehead. A nightmare. "Baby, are you alright?" Joel grabs her right hand. "I, it... I saw David, he crawled over me, he..." Ellie starts crying as Joel holds her in a hug. "He's dead. You don't have to worry about it anymore. Try to forget about it."

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**And thus concludes chapter 2. Please leave a review to let me know what you think.**


	3. 3: Hideout

**Sorry about the long wait, again, I have a very busy schedule. This one is a little short, but it's got some major important stuff in it. Enjoy, and please leave a review, positive or negative they help me improve.**

* * *

Ellie sits down on the couch, bored. Joel was out on guard duty, and would be home tomorrow afternoon. A knock sounds from the door. She gets up, and sees who it is.

"Hey, umm... We need your help." Rebeccah and another girl stood on the porch. Ellie steps back in confusion.

"What do you need? I doubt I'd be useful. The girls both grin. "It'll be fun..." Ellie steps back and thinks for a moment. _What could they want from me? I've only been here for about two days... _

"What are you guys doing?" Ellie steps closer and leans on the door frame.

"Promise that you'll do it, then we'll tell you." The girls chuckle a little. Ellie makes a 'cross the heart' movement over her heart area. "We're going to steal guns from the group of thugs here. They call themselves the furclad." Ellie tries to shut the door, backing out of the gig, but Rebeccah shoves her foot in-between the door and door frame. "You gotta come!" Ellie sighs.

"Fine." She simply says.

* * *

The three girls head to their 'hideout', which was just an old barn, loaded with some old odds and ends of useless things.

"Rachel. And you are?" The new girl says. She has brown hair, and amber eyes.

"Ellie, sorry I'm new around here. I don't really know anybody around here right now. But I will soon." Ellie looks around the shed. "Woah! Is this some sort of assault rifle?" Ellie picks up an old, AK-47. "Fuck, no ammo." Rachel looks to Ellie.

"Not surprised. These guys have lots of good guns, but they don't have much ammo. They aren't really wise about the way they use it." Rachel picks up two 12mm. Pistols, and looks at Rebeccah. "These have ammo in them, not much, but there's some in here."

Rebeccah looks at Ellie. "Take everything. Guns, ammo, weapons, anything weapon related you can find. These guys will kill without hesitation. They need to be punished."

The trio take everything, and vandalize their 'hideout'. "Wait! Go to that old, filthy white house, the one with that the arms dealer lives in. He's got lots of padlocked gun safes, he'll use 'em"

Upon arrival to the house, Ellie and Rachel notice that Rebeccah isn't with them. Ellie feels a hard thump on the back of her head, and collapses as everything fades to black.

* * *

Ellie, Rebeccah and Rachel wake up in the old neglected, woodshed, surrounded by the six boys. "You bitches fucked up big time. Now, you're going to pay for it." Jason looks to Ellie. "So, how guns did you do that to us?" Jason gets in Ellie's face and shouts, "SPIT IT OUT MOTHERFUCKER!" Ellie scrunched up against the wall, shaking in fear. "Seven." Jason smiles. "Ahh, seven?" He takes out a knife and stabs her in the leg, leaving Ellie wailing in pain. "Boys," Jason shouts. "Hold Rebeccah and Rachel down. I've gotta teach this little bitch some manners." Daniel, one of the boys holding Rachel down looks up at Jason.

"What's her punishment?" Jason takes a pairing knife out of his pocket and looks down at Ellie. "Public humiliation seems fit. Followed by whatever I seem fit." He cuts off Ellie's shirt, and backhands her in the face. He moves to rip off her bra, but stops, once hearing a scream comes from outside.

"That was Justin!" Adrian, one of the boys says. Then, the executioner walks in, arm wrapped around his neck, with a Smith and Wesson 500 pointed at Jason's head.

"JASON! LEAVE MY SISTER ALONE, OR I'LL BLOW YOUR MOTHERFUCKING HEAD OFF, ALONG WITH YOUR BOYS'!" The executioner had his hood down for the first time. His hair was auburn like Ellie's, and looked very similar to Ellie, except with a more masculine complexion. His hair was short, just a bit longer than Joel's. A black eyepatch went over his right eye. His face had a large claw scar running from the top of his forehead to his cheekbone, over his right eye.

"G...G...Gray...son? Ellie says, voice trembling. _The boy's voice sounds so familiar..._ "Ellie, calm down. Everything's going to be just fine. I'm back. Just be quiet." Grayson's gaze shifts from Ellie to Jason. "Wisen the fuck up, or Justin dies, along with the rest of you assholes." Jason laughs. "You don't got the balls." Then, gunfire rings out throughout Jackson as Justin falls dead on the floor, head blown to pieces. Jason jumps back in surprise, and all the other boys shiver in fear. "Don't. Test. Me." Grayson points his gun at Jason. "Whoa! That was totally uncalled for! Calm down, lets be cool." Jason reaches for his pistol. "DROP THAT ON THE GROUND OR I'LL SHOOT YOU SO MUCH YOU'LL BE BLEEDING BULLETS!" Grayson retorts, his raspy and authoritative voice echoing through the shed. Jason drops the gun on the ground, submerged in an ocean of fear. Grayson quickly shoots all the other boys dead, except for Jason.

"JESUS CHRIST!" Jason falls on the ground, cowering in fear. Grayson picks up a brick and walks over to him. "Just put me down! Just get it over with!" Jason curls up into a near fetal position. "What makes you think I'd let you die so easily?" Grayson knocks Jason out with the brick, and turns his attention to Ellie.

* * *

Grayson runs to her and cradles her in his arms, ready to pick her up. "Rachel! Take my walkie and say, 'this is captain EXR's aid speaker, I need a doctor, and possibly a councilor at Ellie's house. Get Joel out there too.' into the walkie. Ellie, don't worry, you're fine. I'm back, little sis. You're fine. I'm taking you home." He picks Ellie up and starts running to Joel's house. "Rachel! Rebecca! Follow me!" They run to the house, Grayson trying to comfort Ellie all the way. They get back to Joel and Ellie's house. "FUCK! Door's locked!" Grayson steps back, and kicks open the door.

* * *

**And thus concludes chapter 3. Things kinda pick up here on out. Please leave a review, positive or negative they help me to improve. Thanks!**


	4. 4: Reconnecting Ties

**First of all, I'd like to say it's great to get back to writing this story. Sorry about not writing for a while. The reason was published in the previous chapter (I should have posted it in an author note here). This chapter is mostly Grayson catching up with Ellie. You're going to see lots of biblical, four horsemen of the apocalypse shananaginz in here. I recently was introduced to the amazing TV show, "Sleepy Hollow", and wanted to put some horseman reference in here. But, without further ado, here's chapter 4.**

* * *

Grayson sat down on the couch next to Ellie. "It's not bad." Ellie said. "Sure, I can't walk, but I'm okay sitting down." Ellie sat on the couch next to him. She felt overjoyed that he was back, but wanted to 'play it cool'. "Alright." It had been two days since the incident with the thugs. Ellie was doing much better.

Grayson said. Ellie couldn't hold it back anymore. Ellie bounced on top of Grayson, squeezing him with all her might. "Where the hell have you been?" Grayson sat up, coughing. "Right behind you. The whole time." Ellie slouched back into the couch. "What do you mean?" Grayson got up and walked into the kitchen. "Hey, where does Joel keep his spirits?" Ellie looked down at her feet, confused. "Are you going to drink some?" Grayson chuckled. "Umm, what the hell else could I do with it?" Ellie scratched the back of her head, doubting Joel would approve. "Top shelf above the sink."

Grayson plopped back down on the couch, holding a bottle of beer. "Well, what I mean is that I've been following you, your whole journey. But you and Joel always managed to somehow end up one step ahead of me. And that's saying a lot." Ellie started to twiddle her thumbs as he continued. "You left the Boston QZ as soon as I arrived. Escaping it again wasn't easy, but I got it done. Then, figuring you were headed to the capitol building where the fireflies were... That I... Killed... Sorry." Ellie laughed. "You're so evil..." Grayson chugged a stomachfull of beer before continuing.

"By the time I arrived, Tess had locked the door, and before I could find a way in, the place was crawling with soldiers. The least I could do to help you was snipe a few to help Tess give you two some time to escape." Grayson chugged his beer before continuing again. "They found me. I decided that I'd either escape, or kill them all off. If I died there, I decided I'd bring them with me. I killed them all. By the time you guys got to the other side of the subway station I couldn't do anything about it. I searched one of the soldiers and oddly enough, found a broadsword. I found a pale horse nearby too. I think it belonged to the soldiers, but I'm not sure."

Ellie sat up. "Weird. You're stealthy." Grayson chugged his beer to the last drop and set it on the end table next to him. "I figured Joel would head to Jackson, maybe to find help from Tommy. I rode there as fast as I could, using my bow and tomahawk to kill any hunters, infected, or whatever got in my path. Eventually, I got to Jackson. You two weren't there. I rode to the nearest possible location where you two might have gone." Grayson paused and sighed. "Pittsburg." Grayson slouched back and continued. "Well, I have these white contacts, that make my entire eyes white. I put them on, and rode into Pittsburg. I shot down everyone in sight. Lots of the guys said 'It's the horseman of death, from revelations! He's here to punish us for our sins! Run for your lives!' It was fun watching them cower in fear. I heard your voices at the bridge. I went there as fast as I could. I didn't know that humvee was there, but jeez."

Grayson rubbed his hand over his side. "That thing got two bullets in me. I jumped off the bridge, hoping to get to you two, but blacked out as soon as I hit the water. I woke up about 7 miles down the river. That's when I decided to just go to Jackson. I knew you two would arrive there eventually. My gut was right, but they didn't let me enter." Ellie scooted closer to Grayson. Winter came, I had no food, no way to keep warm other than a small tarp. I almost froze to death. What saved my life, was a match. I came back, told them I had promised a family here that I'd protect them, and I would be a big help in the guard. After a while of debating, they let me in. I built guns, houses, refilled bullet cases, and did just about everything I could."

Grayson slouched back into the couch, swimming through the lake of memories that filled his mind. "I built a small house... Well, cave house kind of thing just about half a mile away from Jackson. It's not much. But I have a bed, food, a fireplace, anything you'd find in a house. And after about a year, I built secret tunnels that led from my house, to Jackson, the Dam, and out far into the wilderness. A safe means of smuggling." Grayson looks out the window, drifting off in thought again.

"So, you've made the cure or whatever, right?"

Ellie didn't know how to respond. "I don't know... I don't remember any of it, but Joel said that there's a whole lot more of immune people, and that they've stopped looking for a cure. Something tells me he's lying, but I'll ask him about it at some point. But now, I just want to settle in, and stay here, get to know people, you know."

Grayson sat up on the edge of his seat. "Well, I've got a bullshit detector, built into my brain, and when you told me that, it was beeping as loud as fuck." Ellie laughed at that, but still worried about how she was going to tell Joel. "Well, I'll ask him about it, but I don't know how to ask him... I guess I'll just cross that bridge when I get to it."

Ellie slouched back next to Grayson as a silence fell that lasted about a minute. "You said the horseman of death, from the book of revelations... Who's that?" Grayson was confused as of why she said something like that. "From the bible, ya'know? I've got the verse down in my brain... Well, from verses 1-6 in chapter 6 of Revelations in the bible, it spoke of four horsemen, popularly known as 'The four horsemen of the apocalypse'. I've got the verses memorized for some reason." Grayson softly cleared his throat as Ellie excitedly listened.

"1Now I watched when the Lamb opened one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures say with a voice like thunder, 'Come!' 2And I looked, and behold, a white horse! And its rider had a bow, and a crown was given to him, and he came out conquering, and to conquer." Grayson paused. "Well, this first rider was believed to be the horseman of pestilence, and in some cults, it's believed it is him who brought the cordyceps brain infection to humanity." Grayson continued. "3When he opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, 'Come!' 4And out came another horse, bright red. Its rider was permitted to take peace from the earth, so that people should slay one another, and he was given a great sword." Grayson paused to explain again.

"Well, this one is obviously the horseman of war. Not much to explain about him." Grayson continued again. "5When he opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, 'Come!' And I looked, and behold, a black horse! And its rider had a pair of scales in his hand. 6And I heard what seemed to be a voice in the midst of the four living creatures, saying, 'A quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius, and do not harm the oil and wine!" Grayson paused to explain again.

"This one is likely the horseman known as the horsemen of famine. Not much to explain about this one either." Grayson continued. 7 When he opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, 'Come!' 8 And I looked, and behold, a pale horse! And its rider's name was Death, and Hades followed him. And they were given authority over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword and with famine and with pestilence and by wild beasts of the earth!"

"Well, this would be the horseman of death. In some cults, he's thought to be the mind behind the cordyceps. But they're just cults." Grayson stopped. Ellie put a confused look on her face. "That's very vague. I don't understand it." Grayson smiled. "As is most of the book of revelations. It's a book of visions, and the telling of the end of days. But maybe I can explain a little more about the horsemen to help this be a little more... Clear." Grayson began explaining again.

"There are four horses: A white horse, a red horse, a black horse, and a pale horse. Associated with the horses are pestilence, which is white, war, which is red, famine which is black, and death, which as the horse I rode into Pittsburg, pale.. This passage alludes to several other scriptures. One is from Zechariah 1: 1-8, another is Zechariah 1: 8-15. In these passages, there are four groups of horses of different color that God sends to patrol the earth and punish the nations that are oppressing God's people. God raises those nations to discipline his people, but when those nations inflict more punishment on Israel than they should have, God then punishes them because of his great love for Israel. The horses in Revelation and in Zechariah are very similar in color, with the most notable exception in the descriptions being that Zechariah has groups of horses, with Zechariah 6 having the horses pulling chariots, while Revelation has four individual horses, each with a different color."

Grayson paused again before continuing. "This connection between Revelation 6:1-8 and Zechariah 1 and 6 seem to indicate God's ongoing discipline of his people and simultaneous punishment of non-believers who persecute his people. Four judgments are also stated in Ezekiel 14:12-23. These judgments are caused by nations being unfaithful to God. The purpose of God's retribution is to punish the nations for their sin but also to purify God's remnant people by testing their faith. In Revelation we can see analogous application of judgments. Persevering believers will be purified. However, those who demonstrate their disloyalty to Christ by compromising with idolatry will be judged in these tribulations. Ezekiel also refers back to Leviticus 26:18-28. In Leviticus, God says he will bless Israel if it repents of idolatry. God issues warning judgments which will cause the true Israelites to repent and draw near to God, while the apostates will be punished and draw away from God."

Ellie looked very confused again. "That doesn't make much sense..."

Grayson gets up, gets another beer and plops back down on the couch. "Well, God may have been drawing on John's background in scripture and using these Old Testament passages as a backdrop to the four horsemen. The four horsemen of Revelation 6, as well as the rest of chapter 6, also have a strong allusion to the Olivet Discourse Jesus in the Synoptic Gospels. The Olivet Discourse is where Jesus gave his discussion about the future. It was prompted by the disciples earlier when they were leaving the Temple commented how huge and impressive it was. Jesus took the disciples down the Kidron Valley and up on the Mount of Olives. There Jesus told them the temple would be destroyed, talked about various things that would happen throughout time prior to his coming again, and talked about the end of the age. As each horse is examined, along with the other seals, we'll look at the discourse."

As Grayson continued talking about the horsemen, it reminded her of the last time she spoke to Sam, about God and heaven. But Grayson continuing to speak interrupted her thoughts. "As Christ breaks each of the seals, one of the four living creatures thunders out, 'Come!' The first horse is a white horse. This is an enigmatic symbol where respected scholars back in the day, before the outbreak, debated with vast disagreement. We'll look at the other horses first, because the meaning of these is more obvious."

Grayson chugs his beer again. "The second horse is red. The rider was granted to take peace away from the earth. He carries a great sword. Clearly this horse and rider bring war to the world. When we look at the Olivet Discourse, Christ says, 'when you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be frightened; those things must take place; but that is not yet the end.' From the discourse we see this is an activity that occurs throughout the age before Christ returns."

Ellie listens intently, both confused and fascinated. "The third horse is black. The rider has a pair of scales. This horseman is indicative of famine. The scales were used to ration food during times of famine. A voice from the center of the four creatures speaks. The only one mentioned that sits in the center is God, and thus implies that God is even the ruler of famines. The voice says, 'A quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius; and do not harm the oil and the wine.' A denarius was a day's wage for most people. A quart of wheat is not much for a family. While we grow barely today in the field north of Jackson for soups and other stuff, barely was a much lower grade of grain, used chiefly to feed cattle. The prices for these items have been inflated from eight to sixteen times their normal price. Commentators speculate about the meaning of, 'do not harm the oil and wine.' It is possible that not all items will be hit hard in a famine, that some things will be available. Others see this as luxury items and that the rich will find ways to enjoy their lives even during times of famine." Grayson chuckles. "I'd harm the wine, a lot." Ellie laughs in unison with Grayson.

Grayson continues after chugging his beer. "When we look at the Olivet Discourse, Christ says, '…there will be famines. These are but the beginning of the birth pains.' In other words, famines will reoccur throughout the inter-advent age. The forth horse is pale. The Greek word is "chloros". Our words "chlorine" "chloroform" come from this word. It is a pale yellow-green, sickly color. The riders are called 'Death' and 'Hades'. In Revelation chapter 1, we see that Christ has the keys to death and hades. They are given authority to kill a quarter of the people. It is not a full judgment, but a partial one. They inflict a four-fold pestilence on the earth. Four-fold pestilence is symbolic of a full judgment that is seen in the Old Testament – but is not complete given that it is a quarter of humanity affected. Again, from the Olivet Discourse, these judgments occur throughout the church age until the coming of Christ."

Grayson finishes his beer and continues again. "As I said before, back in the day, there was a lot debate about the first horse. Commentators, well-respected, now dead commentators identified that horseman as Christ to anti-Christ! You can't get further poles apart than that!" Ellie put on another confused face. "What's an antichrist?" Grayson thinks for a moment. "I'll explain that some other time, but for now, let me finish explaining this. As I was saying, people that believed the first horseman is Christ, they saw it is a white horse. White in the Bible is almost always good. Further, the rider is wearing a crown and Christ wears a crown. Well, actually, seven, but that's not the point, I'll get to that in a moment."

Grayson pauses, collecting his thoughts into a final explanation. "Finally the rider conquers; conquering in the Bible is usually a good thing, such as conquering evil. Those who think the rider is the anti-Christ see that Jesus forewarned about imposters coming with the appearance of the Messiah, 'Many will come in my name, saying, I am he! And they will lead many astray.' There is another view, that the rider is not Christ, but the rider is a good rider because the symbolism of white and crown. Jesus says, "the gospel must first be proclaimed to all nations." This rider is seen to represent the gospel going forth to all nations, conquering Satan. As the gospel goes forth, opposition to the gospel will arise in the form of the other horsemen. Personally, I see this last option, the gospel going forth conquering the nations, as the reality behind the symbolism of the white horse of the first seal."

Grayson pauses before continuing again. "Are these four seals and horsemen sequential occurrences in history? Reading the imagery in Zechariah, those horsemen are going about the earth concurrently. The Olivet Discourse also indicates these events occur concurrently. Each of these things will happen at various times at different places on the earth." Grayson scratches his head.

"Well, you've run me dry on observations on this and such. Grayson sighs. "I'm just glad you're back."

"I guess that clears it up. Makes a little more sense now." Said Ellie.

Ellie hugs Grayson. "All this time... I thought you were dead... How did you survive that thing?" Grayson slouched back into the couch and thinks back. "Well, it wasn't easy. It took my eye, almost my leg, and for a few days, my sanity. It hit me out a window, and as I hit the ground, a 13 inch piece of rebar shoots through my leg..." Grayson rubs his thigh. "I tried to stand, but I couldn't get off that fallen piece of rebar. But, after a while, some runners showed up. I got tackled a few times. I shook em off, but... one of them sank it's teeth in my side. Tomorrow, the bite'll be eight years old." Grayson lifts his shirt to reveal a bite on his side. Ellie pulls back her shirt sleeve to reveal her bite. "The fuck..." Grayson was awestruck as the both of them, were apparently immune. Grayson shrugs. "I guess it runs through the family.

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**And thus concludes chapter 4. Well, thanks for reading, be sure to write a review. Positive or negative, they help me ****a lot!**


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